Behind the Burger
Created by the New Mexico Beef Council, we are telling the stories behind the beef in New Mexico.
Behind the Burger
From Mules To GPS: Building Beef And Family Across New Mexico with Jim and Jay Hill
What does it take to keep a ranch thriving when prices swing, rain stalls, and the next generation needs a runway? We sit with Jim and Jay Hill outside Las Cruces to map a path from mules and tobacco fields to GPS tractors, custom feeding, alfalfa, cotton, seed crops, and even commercial real estate. Their story is equal parts resilience and reinvention, proving that diversification is not a buzzword—it’s a survival plan that protects both cattle and family.
Jim shares how smart buying, timely selling, and steady expansion turned a small New Mexico farm into a multi-faceted operation, while Jay recounts scaling production to 21,000 acres and two feedyards before stepping back to reassess bandwidth and balance. Together they break down how to think like a ranch CFO: hedge drought with insurance, buy feed when it’s cheap, prioritize airflow and shade to combat heat stress and parasites, and build rotational grazing that holds up when the monsoon doesn’t. They also push back on the idea that agriculture is closed to newcomers—start small, grow smart, and let partners amplify your effort.
Beyond economics, they tackle the human side of the beef industry: mental health in a comparison culture, making peace with your pace, and the hard conversations of succession planning. Their take on marketing is clear and actionable: put your name on your beef, use local processing and directories, consider co-ops carefully, and keep your face in front of your product so trust outlasts any single buyer. Through it all, the Hills return to what matters—healthy animals, honest stewardship, and a community of people you’d happily break bread with.
If you care about ranch resilience, drought strategy, animal comfort, and building a brand that lasts, this conversation delivers practical steps and real encouragement. Subscribe, share with a ranching friend, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so more producers can find it.
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Welcome back to another episode of Behind the Burger. Uh we're here just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and I am here with Jim and Jay Hill. Uh guys, will you kind of introduce yourselves? Maybe Jim, will you start?
Jim Hill:Yeah, I'm Jim Hill. Uh live here in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Been in the egg business all my life. Uh was on the Beef Council for uh a few years and enjoyed each and every day that we had, and it's fun to see what we're doing today. This is a this is the step in the right direction.
Carollann Romo:Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. And that's yeah, that's kind of how the connection happened, right? Is is uh Jim is a former former board member with the Beef Council, and so we love to keep in touch because once you have volunteers, once you have good volunteers, you gotta keep a hold of them a little. Um and Jay is your son.
Jay Hill:Yes. Get to uh get to grow up in the shadow of the great Jim Hill. And uh it's been probably the most exciting uh ride that any kid for could ask for. Uh just being able to see how dad came from such very humble beginnings um and this built and lost and built and rebuilt and uh been so uh diversified in such a short period of time. So it's just been a really fun opportunity just to hang out with pops and uh get to live out the agricultural world day in and day out. I've um have farmed since uh first crop was at 14 years old and uh been in the ag business. We've we've both uh farmed and ranched for the last, well, now this is my 29th crop, something like that, 28th crop. Um and so as as these things all have come together just to be able to do that alongside the family, it's been amazing.
Carollann Romo:Oh, absolutely. I I think that's a the really special thing. This, you know, family business um or family uh generational thing, watching uh, you know, farm and and ranch. Um tell us about kind of Jim, start with uh your background and and kind of how you got into it or how how uh you started and then and then the operations that you have had and that you currently have. Yeah.
Jim Hill:Well, I grew up in uh eastern Tennessee and I grew up on a farm, but mainly we grew tobacco, okay. So we had all those good things that we started out with. And and I came here and went to school, a little school called Texas Western, okay, and graduated from a school called UTEP, which is the same school, and uh was fortunate enough to know a banker and and bought a little farm in Bato, New Mexico. And uh we turned that in, sold it in a few years and bought a bigger one and continued to grow and and uh just diversified. We had a chance to buy a ranch and we we bought the ranch and kept it for many years. A guy from California came in and wanted to know if we would sell a ranch, and the statement back to him was no, it's all paid for, the cattle are ours, we're not paying. And just a few days before the end of the year, he said, Will you sell your ranch? And so that's a whole different ball game. And so we did. We got out of the we sold a ranch, but we stayed in the feeding business. We feed for custom uh the we uh produce beef for a bunch of friends and neighbors and stuff that buys uh finished beef from us. So we've been in it, but we still uh are are in the farming, we're in the we're in the alfalfa uh grain. Uh we've grown a lot of cotton, so we uh we've been blessed to uh stay in the egg business.
Carollann Romo:Oh yeah, and it well if you're feeding cattle, you uh you need a lot of you need a lot of farming or farming friends.
Jim Hill:We do.
Carollann Romo:Yeah, um well that's great. And and uh uh Jay, tell us about kind of what you your connection to the industry too, because you you know aren't always on the farm necessarily, but you're helping others and and uh helping others build their their farms, right? Is what kind of what I understand?
Jay Hill:Uh it's a it's an evolution of agriculture, really. I I went to work um it when I was 15, I went to work for a produce company. Um, and my job was to load onion trucks at night. So my shift started at at 5 45 in the evening and I'd get home at about nine o'clock in the morning. In those days, dad was still deriving income from from outside sources of agriculture, and uh, and so anytime I could pick up a gig cutting hay or baling hay or doing whatever I could do, I just was really you know cultivated pun intended um by agriculture. Um and in so doing so we'd we'd formed different partnerships and and it sent me to different parts of the state um to do you know to to learn kind of the hard way of how to large scale farm. And in doing so, uh it opened a lot of opportunities. Um so we got our start, or at least I got my start in produce, um, onions, chili, lettuce, cabbage, um, and then at the same time we were still running uh we had a ranch and then we were feeding cows too. And uh and so it was just it was a lot of fun to do that. And then as college um drug on a couple different times I attended an institution. Um and I met a lot of great people in that. I'm I'm glad I I was there when I was there because I some of my best friends were met in college a lot in the beef industry. Um, and uh it's it's been a lot of fun to see all of our evolutions go. Uh had an opportunity at one point we we started growing a lot of uh seed crops, so carrots and uh seedless watermelon has to have seed. Um so understanding how to grow seedless watermelon seed. Um, and uh and that kind of morphed itself into uh curing seeds and things like that. And then we got an opportunity. I got an opportunity uh to partner up with a person and we took over an operation in West Texas uh for a municipality um and started off with about 3,500 acres uh and in five and a half years turned it into a little over 21,000 acres of production, uh alfalfa, corn, cotton, um, silage, and then we had two feedlots um at the max feeding, you know, 400 head in one, and the other one uh we rotated anywhere between 15 and 2,000 head end. And um, and so that kind of brought me back into the beef side of things. I had been mostly in the farm side. Um, and in 22, uh, we had the option to pull the ripcord, and uh so we pulled and uh didn't know I've got a I've got a wife and two sweet kiddos, and we didn't know really what direction we wanted to go, and we ended up uh coming back into Las Cruces. Uh we're close to mom and dad. Dad said, Why don't you come back, you know, and and be close. Um so we did that, and I got into commercial real estate and uh connections, just knowing people, and uh the next thing you know, it becomes a career. It was supposed to be something that was passive income. Um, and it's been it's been a lot of fun now understanding. I I wish I would have known now, you know, I would have started this a lot earlier. Understanding diversification in agriculture, you know, beef market's high right now. Um so you know, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna buy another ranch or are you gonna diversify that into passive income where it's gonna come out of you know, commercial space? Are you gonna buy a farm? Are you gonna, you know, what is those? Um, and this is things that I I've I've been really blessed to be able to be along for this ride to understand these different transitions. Uh our family transitions to I've got a brother that works for us in Dell City, he still runs a large farm that we have over there. And uh, and just understanding how we transition this together um has been a lot of fun.
Carollann Romo:Oh, absolutely. That sounds that sounds really interesting. And I think the uh the changes and the you know evolution of of agriculture of where you're you know trying to diversify. And I think what did they used to say in the Midwest when they had smaller operations, you'd have uh you'd grow corn and then you'd walk the corn off the off the farm, right? You'd have cattle just to walk the corn off. Well, now they don't have to do that because they have all these, you know, co-ops and and local mills and all that. And then, but then now the the change back, right, is as as life cycles is that maybe it is okay to diversify again and still grow. It it is a good way to grow, especially because the cattle market surely won't be high forever.
Jay Hill:No, and I think I think that's something that I mean, we got to enjoy a cotton market at, you know, for upland cotton at over a dollar twenty-five, you know, and everybody's like, man, this is we finally have we finally have arrived to a price point where it makes sense to grow cotton. And I sold cotton this year at 64 cents, you know, that's two years later. Um, and so understanding that there's these ebb and flows um in agriculture um and then diversification of what your portfolio looks like, even if you're in a long, you know, if you're a sixth generation family farmer or rancher, the opportunities for you to sit and do the same thing day in, day out, you can do that, but what is that gonna do when you have these big swings? And so that's we've we've learned the the good way and the bad way in that.
Jim Hill:Yeah. You know, one of the big things, uh, we'd run a lot of business with the bank, the bankers bank uh out of Oklahoma, and and when that gentleman comes down, we'll really become good friends. And uh he's always asking the same question over and over, you know, hey Jim, when are you gonna write a book? Jim, how are you coming on your book? And I tell him, you know, Frank, I'm not in the writing contest, okay? And he says, Jim, you started farming with mules and horses. Yeah, I know J and Hall. I know all those kind of things. And he says, now I'll watch you get in and out of the GPS tractors and stuff like this, that I can't hardly see you when you're up there. Uh, you have a story to tell. I just think uh I've been blessed and I'm so excited, and and my whole family is that we're gonna be able to continue this as we leave. Uh we have a son, two sons that's really involved in it, and our whole family uh is really, really involved in what we do and how we do it.
Carollann Romo:I I that's absolutely the the ultimate goal, I think, for a lot of us is if you can find something that your kids can do and you have this generational uh practice. And it's really the main reason for starting the podcast, right? Is we we think that if you're buying your beef at the grocery store, you don't get to hear this story. And we think that the story is important and it's also really neat because the I mean, obviously the human side of of life is is the most interesting part of life, but the the human side of where our food comes from is is so neat. There's not a lot of industries where businesses can last generations and last generations and through the technology and changes of of uh, you know, as you say, from from mules to now GPS tractors that that might turn around for you.
Jay Hill:It's it's wild too to understand technology is not always a solution, right? Everybody thinks that that as things are progressing, I I mean I stood uh toe-to-toe with a lot of large companies, uh, spoke on behalf and against some um, you know, on genetically modified crops. Um and we we could we could go a myriad of different ways and talk about you know the evolution of those all those kind of things. Um, but understanding uh what is what are we leaving for the generation behind us? Um, you know, we're out at the Corli Disranch right now, we're getting to do an opportunity that we're helping um the fosters as they're rehabilitating some of their farm ground and they're really working on a regenerative practice. And I think a lot of us in agriculture look at that and we roll our eyes in the back of our head and we're like, oh, it's just a sling term for somebody to be able to coin in on green dollars. Um, but when you are a part of something and you see the change in uh a hurt and and how you can go back to some of the basics that where he was working with a team of mules, G and Haw, there's like fundamental building blocks to us being good stewards of what we do every single day that we have to revert back to. And um, I think in a in a technologically advanced world where we've got social media telling us what we're doing wrong every single day, and we're we're trying to evaluate ourselves against somebody else that's just showing you the best side of what they do. Um, it's nice to be able to have the chain to go back to talk to dad, to go back to talk to the fosters and say, well, this they do it this this way. And what if we meet in the middle and try it this way? Um, and it's not necessarily just having to be the biggest, fastest, and best. It's what the kids at the end of the day are going to be able to inherit and go on with.
Carollann Romo:Oh yeah. What a, what an incredible, uh, what an incredible thing. And I just I I always am in in awe of the ability to pass generations and to learn and to try and and then and then we love to tell people too, is that it's that it's uh, you know, what's good for the land is good for the livestock, and what's good for the livestock is often good for the land. And so obviously there's there's regenerative, there's sustainable, there's all these, you know, the buzzwords, right? But it's it's all about uh a economic sustainability to pass a business generations.
Jay Hill:Yeah, and and and honestly, too, it's uh cash flow is something that always people, you know, let's talk about the cash flow and the you know, you know, you want to get into ranching, you want to buy a place someday, you want to, you know, you want to pass this to your children, all of those kind of things that so many people say, well, the economics of agriculture are not approachable. Like unless you inherit into it, you can't get into it. And I think that's a huge lie that people that people don't understand. Starting small and building something, like when I started farming in the beginning, it was 10 acres. And then when the ribcord got pulled, it was 21,000 acres. And to say that, you know, and that's not just me, the good Lord's mile on us the entire way, and there was a lot of pain, a lot of bad partnerships, a lot of the stumbling over not understanding. You know, we made some huge mistakes, others made huge mistakes. But to encourage people to say that they can be a part of this entire ecosystem of agriculture by starting with just saying, I have a dream. Like I want to, I want up my own spot. I want a spot for my kids to be feral and run around and you know, understand that Legos are not the same as goat eds. Um, they both hurt when you step on them. But yeah, yeah, true. So it's it's one of those things that uh ag is approachable still, even even with this market. That's even on the commercial real estate side of things. Like I look at it and people are like, Whoa, you know, I can't believe you you just can't you can't make a ranch work for this number. Like, how bad do you want it? Um and there are there are very creative ways to get people in in into into a dream.
Carollann Romo:Oh, I I think that's the most encouraging thing and such a such an inspirational message. And um there's sacrifice involved, there's learning involved, there's probably a lot of humility involved, but but uh to encourage people to be first generation ranchers or farmers, absolutely. And you're not saying it's not going to be without its sacrifice and without its hills, uh hills and valleys. Um, but that's I I love that. What a what a great thing. Um well, one of the things we uh we like to talk about too is New Mexico's unique landscapes. How has that kind of impacted how your you know businesses have changed and how maybe specifically with cattle, what that what that was like or what you've learned from that?
Jim Hill:Well, you know, I think the big thing that happens is that uh so much of it is not in our control. We just have to be able to manage what we have at the time we have it. We're we're thankful when we get the moisture, we get the rains and stuff, uh while we're on top of the world. But then we have to be able to manage it when we don't. Okay, how do we cut how do we control what we keep and what we don't keep? Uh I want to add just one other little thing to it. Uh as Jay was talking, it has been a uh a bumpy ride. But I think anything that you do has uh bumps in it. And uh and the reason I say that is because you begin to get the bumps out, and now by the time where we are today, uh the bumps are very small, you know, and uh and and the the fun part of it, uh being able to see, as you mentioned, being able to see it pass on and go on and and know that it's in good hands. And and and my advice is you know, if you have a dream or if you have something you really want to do, do it. It's not all about money. Okay? I mean it it's really not. Uh if you work hard enough and you pay attention to what you do, you can do anything you want to do. You know, I mean, it it it's uh it's a neat deal when you have your family involved and you're doing something you really truly enjoy doing. It's it's I'm 85 year old and uh still enjoy each and every day.
Carollann Romo:That's that's uh I again just uh I I get goosebumps thinking about it and I think it's it's inspirational and then and then what's the saying that I'm sure my grandpa or uncle or or dad has told me is anything worth doing is is hard, right?
Jay Hill:Or um if it was easy everybody would do it.
Carollann Romo:Yeah, yeah, all the things. Yeah.
Jay Hill:I your question about you know um uh climatic changes, you know, we're in southern New Mexico, um and I have never not been since I started in AG, I've never not had a drought here. Um I mean we've had a great fall, this our start to fall um and things look good. Uh but diversification of what you're doing, and that's you know the the fosters out here at Corlitas Ranch, they're bringing, you know, they do have the asset of water. And so, you know, our project with them is to get them to a spot that they're drought resistant. Um so finding, you know, we could go in and commercially farm this, we could grow chili and cotton and corn and do all those kind of things if we wanted to do that and and and diversify, but their heart and their mission is in their cows and being able to sustain this ranch. And so coming on board to help them, our mission is to make sure that we set the farm side of their ranch up so that that way when it stops raining again, because it'll stop raining again, um, that they've got a rotational grazing program that they can put their flagship herd on uh and have something that where everybody else has been selling off, these guys kind of can hedge that. So that's been a lot of fun uh understanding those kind of practices. And then to the economics of it, how much money are you willing to spend to drought hedge yourself? Um, insurance has obviously been a huge part of the whole you know, hedging uh these droughts, and it's been it's been very it's been a great thing, and it's saved a lot of us in this industry. At the same time, you know, cheap is relatively inexpensive at the moment. Uh, we sell a lot of feed, we sell you know oats and hay and uh Sudan sorghum and all these different crops. Uh and you can tell the ranchers that are thinking ahead of it because they're the ones that are gonna have the barn and they're gonna buy the feed when it's inexpensive instead of going and buying a new pickup because you still get the same tax write-off. Um, and so you you see some of those practices implemented. Um, and for us, it's the same thing. It's when we have a really good year, just brace yourself because you know following up for those good years, we're gonna have some bumps.
Carollann Romo:No doubt, no doubt. And uh yeah, that resilience of a of a rancher or farmer is a really admirable trait. And even um my favorite thing to say is uh as a agriculturalist, you have to be so many things. You have to know weather patterns, so you've got to have a little bit of meteorology in you. You've got to know the economics, and sometimes you're you're an economist or a market analyst, and then and then also a businessman, and then also you gotta know dirt, you gotta be a soil scientist, and you gotta be so it just keeps going all of the things that it requires.
Jay Hill:Then you gotta you gotta be able to be your own shrink.
Carollann Romo:Yeah. Yeah.
Jay Hill:And that's you don't have time to go to town for that. Um, and and now we live in a comparison world again with like the whole social media scene. And you know, I was all over I was influencing and talking all over the world literally about agriculture. Um, and it catches up to a point where you look into the mirror and you're like, I'm telling everybody how they can live their lives to be better, but inside you're not okay. And it's the comparison, right? You know, if it rained on my side today, what's the neighbor thinking? Or if it rained on the neighbor's side, what are they thinking? Um, instead of just meeting and having a cup of coffee and talking about, man, we were blessed last night, we got two inches of rain. And uh, and so trying to live, trying to build a business in agriculture or sustain a business or a family, a multi-generation operation is great, but at the same time, um doing so in a way that is right for you and your family and not comparative, I think is you know, learn from somebody, obviously, like the best thing you can do, but at the same time comparing yourself to that person. That's why a lot of people I don't think step off of the I want to own the ranch and work for the ranch, or they just have the dream and never do it because they sit there and they say, Well, this guy's got well, he just bought new skids here and he can feed in the snow, or he can, you know, whatever it is, and it's like stop worrying about that, just figure out how you make your payments and build your own. You'll have your own problems.
Carollann Romo:So Absolutely, absolutely. That's uh I I uh for some reason I'm am uh I don't want to say training a horse, but I have a young horse. He went to a trainer and now I'm I'm you know going through the next step, um, but very much not a horse trainer. But I have a young horse and I I send my cousin videos for advice because she's a very excellent horsewoman. Um, and and I said, you know, I feel bad. My horse isn't as far along as everybody else's, and she's no, no, no. And then so it's a life lesson in anything we're doing, if we can just think about what we're doing. And yes, it would be great if we had their resources or if we had their time or if we had their rain or whatever it is. But yeah, the not to not to get too much into life lessons, but I think uh yeah, it's a it's a great thing if we can just try and remember that it's our path and our our plan.
Jay Hill:And it's yeah, it's fundamental to building anything. Yes, a relationship, a farm, a ranch, whatever it's gonna be, it's just being able to sit in and what you can do.
Carollann Romo:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love that. Um I think uh so we kind of talked about the land, but maybe talk about um and maybe do you guys have cattle right now?
Jim Hill:We do. We have some that we're feeding.
Carollann Romo:Okay, that's what I thought you said. Okay. Um just talk about cattle care and the and the um efforts to keep cattle comfortable.
Jay Hill:Okay. Yeah, I I it's uh this is the best place to have that conversation. I mean, uh, and you should ask the fosters the same thing, um, because they they understand the feedlot business well too and the ranch side. Um, but one thing I keeping cattle comfortable in southern New Mexico through these drought cycles is something that uh has been a definite task for us. And um and one thing that we've seen is uh recycling of products from feed yards that are no longer here or dairy yards, um, and some certain degree to give just random shade. Um and I think the biggest thing that we worry about here is heat stroke and ticks, and and that people don't think about like the fact that when you're putting cattle into a confined space even in the desert, we still have tick issues. Um, and so those are the kind of things like parasites, ticks, and heat, those are things that we have to pay attention. You know, we feed our cows out. Um, you know, we've got a small pen at my house that's just kind of the family Christmas beef. Um, and you'd think that it'd be great because I live in the middle of a pecan orchard and their pins are right up against these pecan trees. Um, and so you think, well, shoot, that'd be a perfect spot for something to want to hang out at. But unfortunately, there's no air movement and it's stagnant. Um, and so in the summertime, like being able to get shade and be able to get some kind of airflow into those animals, uh, and we learned it the hard way. Like we just weren't able to put the muscle and the fat on, you know, earlier lots through that small pin. But this is something I'm like, you think about that on the ranch side, uh, that's the same thing. Like if they're not getting ample shade, ample airflow, uh, and you're talking to ranchers that are used to, you know, we use mesquites to be able to bed cows down um at the same time. Uh anything that you can do to give them an easier life, um, if they're not having to go quite as far for water, um, if you're able to keep their teeth up, you know, you can keep a younger herd, especially into these droughts, it's gonna, it's gonna definitely pay dividends.
Carollann Romo:Absolutely. And did you want to add to that?
Jim Hill:No, it's been real neat that I've turned most of this over towards Jay makes a lot of the decisions. I still have uh a few comments that I'll make yet him know, but that's true. He still carries a womping stick.
Carollann Romo:Uh we love it. Uh so um what do you think what do you what would you tell people if um you know to someone's we're we're ordering a cheeseburger, we're ordering a s a steak, or we're you know, at the grocery store, you don't know anything about where their beef comes from. What's something that you want them to know? What do you hope they know?
Jim Hill:You know, I think the big thing is the ranchers, when we talk about uh the all the people that that really grow the beef. Everybody has a practice of making sure they grow the best that they can grow. Uh keep the chemicals, keep the vac keep it out of 'em, okay? If you take care of 'em and feed 'em and control them right, they need very little. We we have no vaccine program because we we don't have sick cattle. Thank the good lord on that. Uh I I don't think is any country in the whole any place we've been has the beef that we have here, the quality of beef that we have. And uh and it's safe.
Carollann Romo:And that's the American beef you're saying. Yeah, it's American beef. Yeah, American beef. We have we have the safest food supply in the world and and uh good quality beef.
Jay Hill:Yes, we do. I I think it's hard now though, because we live in such a throwaway society. And so people are needing they're needing more and they're needing it at a discount, and they're not really they're really not worried about what went into it. Um seven years ago, totally different conversation. Everybody's wanting to know like, is it stamped, is it free range, is it grass-fed, is it corn fed, did it come out of a GMO feedlot, did it, you know, all of these things. And now beef prices get high and people are like, I just need I just need a hamburger. Um and so this is the time where producers have the opportunity to put their name in front of their marketing um because people are scrounging to be able to get, you know, where is their, you know, where is their meat coming from, or where can we get the biggest discount to it? And if we if we don't do a good job of staying in front of people like that, um, then eventually, you know, we'll get run out by you know another foreign set of packers, or we'll have we'll have foreign investment come in, or we'll see beef come across the border again at such a rapid rate that we lose as producers the opportunity to kind of showcase that we are the best at what we do. You know, people that are out on the ranch, people that are out on the farm or in the feedlot, like those people, their stories need to be told, which is why you know, proud of the beef council and and and missions that you ladies always, you know, seem to flagship for everybody. Uh at the same time, um being in the real estate world, there is so many generations that aren't coming home. Um, and so as I'm putting more and more ranches and I'm selling more and more ranches, I'm not selling them to the neighbor. I'm not selling them to the cousin, I'm not selling them to a, you know, it's either going into probate or it's going in and somebody that's got you know a completely different lifestyle is coming in and buying that, especially in New Mexico, they're using it for hunting. Um, which is, you know, I mean, it's it's their you know, prerogative, but at the same time, um, this is an opportunity for these people to market themselves. Um, and if you wanted to be in the beef business, this is the best time for you to partner up with somebody to say, hey, I want to run these cows on this property you're buying because you want to hunt elk or do whatever you want to do. Um, but build your brand of beef based off of who you are. If you go to a big packer and that's where you're, you know, if you're going to a feedlot and you know, outside of seminar or wherever you're going with your cows, great. But at the same time, follow that chain and make sure that your story is told. It doesn't necessarily have to be you, but make sure that somebody knows that that that package of beef is coming from your ranch. Um and that long term, um, and I think we'll I think we'll see that, but long term, I think it's important that people make sure that their face is in front of what their product is.
Jim Hill:You know, I think one of the good things that's happened to us, New Mexico State has really had the package where they can kill and process all of it. And so people can now go buy the beef they want and know exactly who processed it, how it was processed and all that. That's a real plus.
Carollann Romo:Oh yeah, that's a that's a great facility, and we're really excited about that. I think uh uh, you know, the New Mexico Beef Council too, we have the local beef directory on our website where you can find someone in your county and um and then even if it's a county over, they might deliver to your to your uh community. And uh yeah, if you if you choose that, I I always you know like to clarify or you know say that if you're buying beef, the best way to support a rancher is buy beef. Order beef where you are, buy beef where you are. And if you want that story, there is there is a uh pleth of ranches and hopefully more, like you're saying, that will sell it to you direct from their family business. And what a great we all everybody loves to support a small business.
Jay Hill:And there's a lot of there's a lot of private equity money that's already looking at partnering with family ranches to go, you know, though there'll be 10 or 15 family ranches that get put together in a quote unquote co-op. Yep. That you'll see that meet, especially at different restaurants or or grocery store chains. Um, and those are things that, you know, the the devil's always in the fine print. But at the same time, I really think it's important for people to start looking at that diversification too. The same guy that's buying cattle that's bought cattle off of your ranch for the last 40 years, at some point he's gonna retire. And then when you're gonna have to go find a new buyer, uh, you know, where does that trust come in at? And so I think it's one of those things that if you can you can have your pinky in that situation all the way through, you're gonna be better off down the road.
Carollann Romo:Oh, absolutely. We love that. I think that's that's a great thing. And and there's, like you said, there's private equity, but then there's also so the beef council, we try and help uh family businesses and and share them on Facebook and and that kind of thing. And and then we have our local beef directory, and then the New Mexico Department of Agriculture has their um taste of tradition and grown with tradition programs where they'll help you with advertising for New Mexico products and help you with labeling and and that that's all agriculture products. So um there's there's resources out there if you decide to go directly. Use them. Absolutely.
Jay Hill:I mean if if they're gonna have that available, use it.
Carollann Romo:What's your favorite part of the beef industry? Maybe we can, you know, generalize all ag agriculture, but but even specifically the beef industry.
Jim Hill:Uh I guess the most enjoyable is just driving up and seeing healthy animals. You know, they're not running away, they're excited we're coming up to see what uh it's just relaxing. Uh I like the cows. I like the steers that we're feeding. It's just uh it's relaxing. I get to see that over and over and over.
Jay Hill:I like the people.
unknown:Yeah.
Jay Hill:I'm I'm a people person anyways, but at the same time, like like pulling up to you know a college roommate's ranch or coming out here to the Corleitas or you know, anywhere we go, it's very rarely do I run into somebody in the beef industry that I'm like, man, I I would not want to break bread with that person. Like I wanna I want to be around more of those kind of people. And as they're few and far between, um it's things that that I I enjoy more and more the older I get, just those connections are huge. The people of the beef industry are amazing.
Carollann Romo:Absolutely. I think uh yeah, I'm I'm lucky to be a part of the New Mexico beef industry because of the people and the friends like you guys and and uh you know the people I meet that suddenly I'm like, no, we're friends now because you we gotta this is cool. You guys are great people. Let's let's uh let's uh continue this because I just uh yeah, I think that's being around good people is is the best. I've got a great team that we get to work with at the beef council and and just those those salt of the earth uh wonderful people that that you just want to be around, right? I just keep making people hang out with me. It's good. Um keep doing what uh so why do you guys continue? So you've you've you know, whether it's you know through the generations and through the you know trials and and droughts and and mud, luckily right now, uh what makes you keep doing what you do?
Jim Hill:Well, I think it's a couple things that really uh has an effect and and that we do continue. One thing is I want to just say to the Corleaders, to Ross and M, uh this is one reason that we do it. We get a chance to come and help and see a uh a company that's doing better, improving how do they raise more and better beef. Um we get a we we get a charge out of that to see people take and uh and and have interest in and changing for the best. And uh and we do too. I mean, even at the age that uh we are now, uh we're still looking to grow. We're still looking to do and do it right, just do the right things.
Jay Hill:Yeah, I think I think age has a lot to do with ambition too. Um the older I get, uh ambition still sits, but at the same time it's like how do we truly eat the elephant now? Like how do we eat the steak? Um, and it's one bite at a time. If you're if you're trying to explode and grow and do all of these kinds of things, then you have to have the bandwidth to do so. So something has to give on the other end of that and understanding that everything has uh you know, it's a scale. Um, and so how you balance that scale out is gonna be extremely important. Um, for for me, it's just been um opportunities to grow with people that I want to be around. I want to associate myself with people that uh that hopefully someday, you know, a hundred years from now, they're having a beer on this bar and uh and they're sitting back and saying, and those guys are outlaws, but they did a good job and they left this place in such a way that, you know, or my kids can look back and say, Man, we were part of something that actually changed the future of New Mexico beef and New Mexico agriculture. And that's that's all we can hope for.
Carollann Romo:Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh was there before I ask my my last and what's maybe my favorite question, um uh is there anything else you guys would like to add, maybe as we as we warned you we we might make you do a podcast that you thought I want to make sure and say that, or anything else?
Jim Hill:Well, I think the big thing I want to say is that the help and uh all that has been given to us. I think the uh my wife gets the credit. She has really been a trooper to stay with us and the kids and uh and go through the changes that we've made. Grammy's tough. Grammy is a special lady.
Carollann Romo:Oh man, it takes good family. Good family for for uh that that uh family business, right?
Jay Hill:Yeah, it uh and also I'll say this much too. I mean, there's very there's very practical ways to set your family business up for if people are gonna stay in the business. Um and those conversations, if I could give I'm not gonna say I'm an advice giver, but if I can say anything, this is this is what you need to listen to. Set yourself up for the inevitable. You know, people are going to pass. The people that you are near and dear to are gonna they're gonna run something out of town, they're gonna go broke, they're gonna win the lottery and move to Florida, uh, they're gonna pass away, those things. But families need to sit around a table more and they need to have a true plan of what their business needs to look like. You know, they need to understand what their generational rotation looks like for us too. And um, it's something that we didn't do right off the bat. We and I'm I've been blessed that dad's decided to stay on this planet and the good lord's kept them on this planet this long. Um, but at the same time, it's one of those things where there's practical steps to making sure that agriculture stays agriculture. Um, and you know, I'm in the process of selling different pieces of ground that are transitioning away from agriculture, and there's some that are transitioning back into agriculture. And um, and watching the families that have their stuff set up for those kind of pivotal changes is extremely important. So have the hard conversation, look at your family members in the eyes and ask them what they want. Um, not everybody's gonna win. And at the same time, it's okay to not always win. Yeah, absolutely. Sorry to be a Debbie Tower if that's not a few.
Carollann Romo:No, no, no. I think I think it's really important. I think there's there's things that sometimes uh uh especially maybe in ranching or agriculture, is maybe we're too tough or too uh cowboy or too whatever to talk about. And and uh things like succession planning and things like mental health and all of those things are really important conversations that we should have and we should be okay with talking about it if it's changing.
Jay Hill:Yes, and I'm getting and I I'm not saying that as a hipster wearing you know Air Jordan's on the ranch today, like I'm saying that as a person that I'm not wearing Air Jordan's boots. Let's go check his boots. But at the at the same time, I am saying that there is uh there is people that are willing to talk more about kind of what's going on because our society has changed and we have to be able to change with society. It doesn't mean you have to change your values and your standards.
Carollann Romo:So, unless you guys had something else you want to talk about, I just want to ask you what is your favorite way to eat beef?
Jim Hill:A ribeye, medium rare, and maybe chart just a dab.
Carollann Romo:We like that. Any any specific sides you gotta have?
Jim Hill:Uh no, whatever the butcher cuts. Yeah, and he uh we go to old-fashioned, uh plug it a little thing, we go to old-fashioned meat, and uh he does an unbelievable job.
Carollann Romo:Okay, very cool.
Jay Hill:Yeah, uh uh I mean just a great ribeye. I'm sure you hear that every single day. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna put a red enchilada on it, and I'm gonna put an egg and some sour cream and an onion. And I'm not gonna let the sour cream touch the meat though. I'm gonna be really specific about that.
Carollann Romo:Absolutely. We're not, yeah.
Jay Hill:Yeah, so I'm gonna go more to the rare side though.
Carollann Romo:So there you go. We love we love a good steak. Yeah, it has been a common, common answer to say that we uh we love steak, but there's been some interesting ones in there. So we had a taco eater. Yeah, taco and uh and a green chili stew. So it's it's uh and I think I I uh sometimes uh ask the question to a favorite recipe, and then we can put the recipe on the website too. So uh we do have a you know steak grilled w recipe on there.
Jay Hill:Uh there the there's a person that we're at his ranch right now doing this podcast, and he turned me on to some pepper the other day that absolutely blew my mind. So you'll have to ask Ross Foster about what pepper to put on your steak because I'm a salt and pepper and be done with it. You know, maybe a stick of butter.
Carollann Romo:But you know, support the dairy industry. It's only natural, it's only the kind thing to do in New Mexico.
Jay Hill:It's a natural moisturizer, you know. That's how we that's how we beat wrinkles, is what I tell my wife. She said, No, that's how your heart stops at some point, but you know, whatever. But yeah, so black pepper, I don't remember what it's called, but it's fantastic.
Carollann Romo:Very fun. Well, thank you guys so much for uh being a part of the agriculture industry, the beef industry. Thank you for your years of service on the beef council, and uh thank you guys for saying yes to a podcast.
Jim Hill:Thank you, and thanks for coming to the ranch. Thanks getting out of Albuquerque.
Carollann Romo:Oh man, I'd I'd uh I'd be on a ranch every day if if there weren't for you know other other uh parts of the job. But I I I need to be at more and uh if you're a rancher listening and and uh you're willing, I'm I'm uh I've got tires and I'll wear them out because we uh the more I'm on a ranch, the more I understand how to do my job better.
Jim Hill:Thanks. Thank you.
Carollann Romo:Behind the burger is a podcast produced by the New Mexico Beef Council with the goal of telling the stories of the cattlemen and cattle women of the New Mexico beef industry. Thank you for joining us for today's episode. If you would like more information, please visit nmbeef.com. Whether it be a burger, a steak, or another beef dish, we hope you are enjoying beef at your next meal.
